Although it is often the case that pottery and ornaments are made using different types of clay, you would be surprised to hear of someone designing things like garments from a soft clay. Masami Yamamoto, a sculptor who lives in Kanazawa, Japan, works largely with ceramic clay to create these glamorous garments. She presents various designs such as socks, shirts and lingerie made of ceramic and has exhibited these amazing designs even in different countries of the world. She never uses molds for her stunning sculptures and even goes so far as to describe the subtleties of the clothes. She presents these design items as portraits of the closest objects. All of these designs are light, strong, and dense, as they always look realistic.
Most people spend our whole lives wearing full clothes and, of course, these items not only bring us closer to the physical but also give us a deeper look at many things. Yamamoto has chosen his own hand-carving and created the garments by carefully observing them. Many of her creations have been exhibited in a number of museums over the years, and has won valuable prizes for her various sculptures. She has received scholarship of Rotary Foundation in 2009, won the Special Jury Prize from Hiroshima City Museum of Contemporary Art in 2013, and won the Grand Prize at Spiral Independent Creators Festival in 2014.
Yamamoto explains “I think that ceramic materials match very well our human existence through its strong presence and brittleness.”
“From my thinking concerning the raw material of ceramic and the creation process, this series of pieces uses ceramic material as a memory medium.”
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“From the observation of old clothes or objects, I try to memorize the spirit of the owner and his traces. By using the plasticity of clay, I try to reproduce the softness of clothes. Through the firing process, the clay is hardened and keeps the image of the object. It becomes a memory medium.”
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“I have the feeling that the presence of the previous owner and my time are mixed together. Concerning the objects made in ceramic, I feel them like poetic memories of four absolute loneliness and the joys and sorrows of our daily life.”
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